Hollywood
Comes To South Carolina: 106 Years of Filmmaking in the Palmetto State

This is the new
title for Frank Thompson's exciting exhibit that will open at the South
Carolina State Museum in Columbia on Saturday, January 12, 2008. Look
for live media coverage, the red carpet, moving search lights, and all
the ballyhoo that is associated with the opening of a major premiere
event. Author and film historian Frank Thompson is serving as curator
for this exhibit. He and Michael Fey, Director of Exhibits at the South
Carolina State Museum, have generously shared information on this extraordinary
event with us. The preliminary plans we've seen indicate that there
will be something for everyone to enjoy. The size and scope of the exhibit
are impressive and are part of the reason the exhibit is expected to
run through early October, 2008. Stay tuned for further developments.
We encourage our visitors to mark their calendars now and plan on attending
the opening night activities on January 12, 2008.

Anne
Dawson Shares Silent and Classic Film Events
for the Mid-Atlantic Region

Following is a list of upcoming “silent/classic” events
in the Mid-Atlantic region, going down the East Coast! Check these websites
each month for new shows! See film and actor details on the Internet
Movie Database, www.imdb.com

NEW YORK

Fri., Oct. 19, ‘07 - 7pm MELIES (BAM)
Several rare films by 1890s French magician and pioneering filmmaker
Georges Melies. (Melies was one of the first filmmakers to start using
film to tell stories. Many of his films were melted down and remains
donated to the French military during WWI.) At the Brooklyn Academy
of Music, Peter Jay Sharp Bldg, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217.
Tel. 718-636-4100. (www.bam.org). Call for ticket price.

Wedn., Oct. 17, ‘07 - 7pm - W.C. FIELDS (Fort Lee)
W.C. Fields’ Six of A Kind (1934) w/ introduction by Jim Beckerman.
Part of a series on Forbidden Hollywood 2: The Films That Done the Hays
Code Wrong. At the Fort Lee Film Commission theatre, call office for
ticket price and directions - tel. 201-592-3663, website www.fortleefilm.org.
(This is across the river from NYC).

Sat., Nov. 10, ‘07 - 7pm - KEATON (WEST CHESTER)
Films by Buster Keaton & other Clowns at the Chester County Historical
Society’s Cultural Center, 225 N. High St., West Chester, PA 19380.
Tel. 610-692-4800. Tickets $75 (never have seen tickets this high, even
with an orchestra!) Presented by the West Chester Film Festival (Best
of the Fest!). Website: www.westchesterbid.com. The films’ original
scores to be played by the Salon Theatre Orchestra.

Sat., May 3, 2008 - 8pm - BETZWOOD FILM ARCHIVE SCREENINGS (BLUE BELL)
Silent films to be screened plus a tribute to actress Wilna Hervey.
Watch website for schedule. Live music accompaniment by Don Kinnier
and sound effects by Judy Townsend.
At the Science Center Theatre, campus of the Montgomery County Community
College, Blue Bell, PA.
Tel. 215-641-6518. Website: www.faculty.mc3.edu/jeckhard/betzwood.htm.
Professor Joseph Eckhardt, Dir., maintains the Archive of 29 of the
100 silent films made by the Betzwood Film Studios from 1912 to 1923.
Watch website for screening events.

To find more silent film events with musician Don Kinnier, google for
“Don Kinnier, music”.

WEST VIRGINIA

Shepherdstown Film Society
See the classic film schedule of the Shepherdstown Film Society, Shepherdstown,
WV - www.shepherdstownfilmsociety.org.

MARYLAND

Fri., Oct., 26, ‘07 at 8pm - PHANTOM (FREDERICK)
Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin in The Phantom of The Opera (1925, 93 min.)
+ a selected short, at the Weinberg Center, 20 W. Patrick St., Frederick,
MD (intersection of Patrick and Market Streets) with Wurlitzer accompaniment
by Ray Brubacher. Website: www.weinbergcenter.org
Street parking is available; also, a garage is next to the theatre -
on W. Patrick, drive past the theatre to the next cross street of S.
Court Street. Turn left onto S. Court, and left again into the garage
entrance. Fee after 6pm is $1 cash for the evening, pay upon exit. (Check
mapquest.com or bring a map with you - there are a lot of one-way streets
in Frederick!) (Tickets TBA but are usually $6 / $4 for kids.)

Fri., Nov. 2, ‘07 at 8pm - MARX BROS (FREDERICK)
A Night at the Opera (1935) + A Day at the Races (1937), Weinberg Center
in Frederick, MD.
(See Oct 26 info above). Buster’s and other classic films are
being scheduled for 2008 - see their website!

Library of Congress’ National Audio-Visual Conservation Center
in Culpeper, VA!
Just completed - construction now completed. Formal opening to be announced.
The Library of Congress counts some 100,000 sound recordings per year,
and about 30,000 feature films, and does 75% of the current film restoration
being done today. This preservation center, built into Mount Pony, will
include a theatre that screens films for the public, two or three nights
a week, free admission! (Website under construction.). Article by Richard
von Busack on this website: http://www.metroactive.com/metro/09.05.07/film-restoration-0736.html.

Rappahannock Association for the Arts and the Community (RAAC)
See the classic film schedule hosted by RAAC’s Film Committee
in Washington, VA: www.raac.org.

NORTH CAROLINA

Mon., Oct. 29 ‘07 - KEATON (CHARLOTTE)
7pm - Lecture by National Public Radio’s Bob Mondello on The General
and the history of “Southern films”;
8pm - The General (1927); at ImaginOn’s Wachovia Theatre, 300
S. Seventh Street., Charlotte, NC 28202. Tel. (704) 973-2780, website,
www.imaginon.org. Tickets TBA. Live music accompaniment by Ethan Uslan.
Presented by the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County
for “Southern Flavor: Five Films About the South”, in collaboration
with the Levine Museum of the New South’s exhibit, “Comic-Stripped:
A Revealing Look at Southern Stereotypes in Cartoons.”

Sat., Oct. 20, ‘07 - Ethan Uslan is featured on National Public
Radio’s Prairie Home Companion radio show. Check with your local
NPR station, and this website http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/.

Mr. Beery presented Keaton’s The General with live music by Erich
Lieth on Sep. 22. A local member of the International Buster Keaton
Society was able to attend and afterward had a conversation with Nic
and Lieth.
Hear a recap of the show! Nic posted a “Recap” of the show
on his website, www.centurycentercinema.com. On this website, click
on “NicKast” to hear an interview with Nic, musician Erich
Lieth and the International Buster Keaton Society member.

Wayne Powers
Media businessman Wayne Powers (www.waynepowers.com ) is a great fan
of silent film star Harry Langdon, and has been contributing to the
restoration project of Langdon’s films, which will be released
on a 4-disc DVD set by All Day Entertainment this December 2008 - see
www.alldayentertainment.com and click on “News”.

South Carolina Movie Theatres
Ever see movies at an historic South Carolina movie theatre? Want to
read about South Carolina’s historic movie theatres? See John
Coles’ and Mark Tiedje’s website, www.scmovietheatres.com
to read about their project and histories collected to date!

A SLAPSTICON REVIEW!
Commentary on the 2007 Slapsticon
Sent in by Rob Farr & Richard Roberts: A blogger who enjoyed the
2007 Slapsticon wrote 9 pages of excellent commentary entitled “Silenced
Laugher” on
www.billydaking.blogspot.com/2007/07/silenced-laughter.html.